First Aid for Birds

There was a heartwarming story released within the past couple of days about a woman who saved a hummingbird who was trapped in the water she used as an ant moat for her feeder.

There are so many of us who wouldn’t know the first thing about helping an injured bird. I thought it would be prudent to help readers learn about basic first aid for birds. Please keep in mind that your intention should ALWAYS be to stabilize the bird and then find a licensed rehabilitator to provide further care. You can find a bird rehabilitator by contacting your local Humane Society or by calling the Department of Natural Resources.

One of the most common problems for birds in our backyards is colliding with window panes. If a bird accidentally flies into your window you should attempt to find the bird immediately. This bird will likely need a safe place to rest in order to restore its equilibrium. You can create this safe place with a nest of lightly crumpled tissues in a small deep box with a lid (a shoe box is ideal). Make sure the lid to the box has air holes. Do not punch too many holes in the lid as the bird will need it to be relatively dark. Gently place the bird onto the nest of tissues and place it in a safe area away from potential threats (cats, dogs, children, etc). After about an hour, take the box outside (away from the windows) and lift the lid slowly to peek inside. If the bird begins to flutter about it may be ready to leave the safe-haven you have provided. Open the box fully and allow the bird to fly away.

If after an hour the bird is still struggling, place the lid back on the box and allow the bird another hour or two to recover (sometimes it helps to give them a full night’s rest). If after you have allowed the bird additional time to recover its equilibrium, and it is not able to fly, it probably has an injury that will surpass your level of expertise. In this case, you should definitely locate a rehabber in your area.

Saving a Baby Bird

The first and most important thing to do when you have found a baby bird is to determine whether or not it really needs your help. If the bird looks newborn, i.e. it is featherless, simply pick up the little baby and place it back into its natural nest. By the way, it is an old wive’s tale that a mother bird will abandon its baby if it smells a human scent!

What if you can’t reach the nest or find the nest? Then you should attempt to reunite the baby with its parents by creating a nest of your own. We have found the green strawberry pint boxes fill with cotton to work quite well. Once you have filled the box with cotton, obtain some wire and attach the box to the tree branch. Then place the baby bird into the makeshift nest and observe. If the parent does not go to the baby bird within the hour – you my friend, will be the new proud parent of a baby bird. At least until you get the bird to a rehabilitator! In the meantime, keep the baby warm and fed. How you ask? Feed the bird at least every half hour (or every 15 minutes if the baby’s eyes have not opened yet) from before sunup to sundown.

For the first meal, stir 2 tablespoons of Karo syrup into 4 tablespoons of warm water until it is dissolved. You can feed the baby with an eyedropper. For your next meal and all other meals following, prepare an all-purpose nestling food.

All Purpose Nestling Food:

1. Peel a hard-boiled egg, remove the yolk and mash it.

2. Mix the mashed egg yolk with unmedicated chick scratch, baby cereal or crushed cornflakes. For older nestlings, also add canned dog food to the mixture.

3. Add warm water, a few drops at a time until mixture is soft but not runny.

4. Break off the sharp end of a wooden skewer (the type used for making shish kabob). Pick up a small dab of the mixture on the skewer and feed it to the baby.

5. Continue feeding the bird small dabs of food until it doesn’t want it anymore.

6. Repeat feedings every 30 minutes. Feed the nestling all it will eat each time you feed it.

Keeping baby warm

Place the baby bird into a small box lined with kleenex. Fill two 20 oz soda bottles with warm water and wrap them in wash clothes. Put the washcloth wrapped bottles in the box on each side of the baby and refill them with warm water each time the water cools.

First Aid for baby birds is difficult and constant work, which is one of the very reasons you will want to hand the bird over to a rehabilitation specialist as soon as possible.

*Information for First Aid from a book called Attracting Bird to Your Backyard. Great book!

How to Create a Simple Woodpecker Feeder

This is my kind of birding project… it’s not rocket science, it’s simple, and quick!

Whenever building a feeder at home it is usually beneficial to mimic the natural habitat of the bird you are attempting to attract to the birdfeeder. It therefore becomes important to learn how a woodpecker typically feeds in the wild. Woodpeckers are considered “clinging” birds – they have clawed toes that point in opposite directions which gives them the ability to cling and walk vertically up a tree trunk. Woodpeckers perch vertically to forage for food in trees which is exactly why we are going to hang our feeder vertically on a nearby tree.

Steps to Building a Woodpecker Feeder:

1. Obtain a rectangular cedar shingle. Cedar is best because it is thin and sturdy.
2. Purchase chunky peanut butter.
3. Since peanut butter is high in oil – you many want to wrap the back of the cedar shingle with aluminum foil to prevent the peanut oil from seeping all the way through the shingle.
4. Simply nail the shingle to a vertical support. This support can be an arbor post or a feeder mounting post. The shingle should be nailed as high as you can reach without using a ladder.
5. Spread your chunky peanut butter near the top of the shingle so the woodpeckers have room to grip without smearing the peanut butter on their feet or tails.
6. That’s it!

Keep in mind, woodpeckers will not be the only interested parties. Other clinging birds such as nuthatches, titmice, and chickadees will probably partake as well.

Happy Feeding!!